Improvement in refrigerators



UNITED STATES P TENT OFFICE.

' FLETCHER HACKETT, or HALES o'oRNERs, WISCONSIN.

' IMPROVEMENT IN REFRIGERATORS.

Specification formingpart of Letters Patent No. 173,280, dated February 8, 1876 application filed v December 29, 1875. 1

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FLETCHER HACKETT, of Hales Corners, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Milk-Coolers, of which the following is a specification:

Figure 1 is a front elevation with the door open, showing generally the internal arrangement of the shelves, 850. Fig. 2 is a plan view in-horizon tal section through the central part of the device. Fig. 3 is a vertical central section, showing the internal construction of the device.

The object of present invention is to devise an efficient, cheap, and portable cooler for milk and other articles of family food which are.

easily affected by the heat; and it consists,

more particularly, in the hollow octagonal central shaft which carries or sustains the supportingframes or shelves having an internal pipe connecting at the top with the ice-tray and leading through the bottom of the device, and so adapted and applied as to serve also as bearings or an axis. upon which the said shaft may be revolved; and in combining with a cooler, constructed as will be, more fully explained,a wire-gauze or perforated or openwork screen; and in the general detail and construction of the device, whereby a very light and portable device is afforded, and one capable of being easily and cheaply made, all as will now be more in detail set out and explained. T g

In the accompanying drawings, A A denote the top and bottom boards or plates of the cooler, which are supported on any suitable standards, B, (now shown .in the corner and other positions.) Centrally within is placed the hollow octagonal shaft 0. At or upon its top, and a little below the plate or board A,

is suitably secured or fixed the ice-pan D, while within it, and extending'from top to bottom, is the pipe E, which may also extend through pan Dand out through top A, and likewise down through bottom A, thus affording suitable bearings upon which said shaft 0 may be turned, about or revolved.

tions at c provision is made for the escape of the .water from the melting ice in pan D. Any receptacle for the water may be provided below pipe E. Securely attached to the shaft Through perfora- 0 are arms or open or frame shelves F. These are preferably made by means of'fonr slots or bars of wood, two of which are attached parallel to each other, one on each side of the shaft, and the other two parallel to each other, and suitably arranged relative to the shape, but both at right angles to the first two. Thus is afforded an open support, upon which may be set the inclined side of the milk pan or vessel and be securely held, while allparts or portions of the exterior thereof are exposed to the cooling atmosphere in the chamber about it.

The advantage of making this shaft octagonal over any other shape before used, such as round or square, is that a larger number of arms can be placed upon the same, and thus the fullest capacity of the interior chamber be utilized. The pans or vessels are so disposed upon these arms or shelves that they are alternated up and down on a horizontal line. This arrangement has the advantage of securing or affording free spaces for the circulation of air.

The same general result will be measurably well attained by using a frame or open shelf, as now shown at F; If, for-any reason, it is desired I. can cover these frames or shelves with wire-gauze or other material.

Attached to the frame in any desired manner is the wire-gauze G, which will allow free ventilation and secure protection from rats, mice, insects, and all vermin; but this covering may be made of any suitable material so long as it allows a free ingress of air into and from the interior of the cooler. A door, H, usually extending from top to bottom, is hinged to any of the posts B, and covered with gauze or otherwise to conform to the covering of the other portions of the device, thus affording.

ready means for the opening or closing of the interior of the cooler.

Through a hinged trap-door, a, in the top plate or board of the cooler access maybe had to-the tray or pan D; but if desired the said pan may be so arranged relative to the door H, that access can be had to it through said door.

A cooler or refrigerator constructed according to the above detail can be made very quickly and very cheaply, and will afford a device of the most serviceable character for the farmer or mechanic. It can be supported onlegs, or in any way taste or-convenience may suggest.

While 1 have devised this invention as more especially adapted for a milk-cooler, it will. be

evident that its useful offices are not necessarily confined to that purpose only, for it can be as usefully employed in the household to contain or preserve in hot weather all the articles of domestic food which are easily aflected by the heat.

Having thus described my invention, what I consider new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of pipe E, journaled in top A and bottom A, with hollow shaft 0,

. forth..

2. The combination of the frame A A B, having lid a, door H, and perforated covering G, with shaft 0, pipe E, shelves F F,and pan D, substantially as described. 7 In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FLETCHER HAOKETT. Witnesses:

JAMES SMITH, M10. 0. CROUNSE. 

